Genome analysis of four Lactococcus lactis strains

The project investigates whether the bitterness of dairy products is caused by the starter cultures, how the individual strains of Lactococcus lactis differ from each other, and what influence environmental parameters have on proteolysis. Two selected strains per subspecies are studied. One strain per subspecies contains the gene prtP, which codes for a cell wall-sustaining exopeptidase. This exopeptidase is responsible for the first step of the proteolysis of caseins. The other two strains are prtP negative.Genomic DNA and plasmid DNA has been isolated and completely sequenced from the four strains.